Is 'Game of Thrones' still as sharp?

By Breeanna Hare, CNN

Updated 1644 GMT (2344 HKT) April 7, 2014

'Game of Thrones': Who's who in Westeros17 photos

'Game of Thrones': Who's who in Westeros – In HBO's "Game of Thrones," a robust cast of lords and ladies all plot to claim the Iron Throne and rule the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. Between the beheadings and the house mottos, it can be easy to lose track of who does what. Here's a brief guide to who's who (while they're still here):

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Who's who in Westeros – Jon Snow (Kit Harington): From bastard son to wildling lover, Jon Snow and his immaculate medieval tresses have had quite the journey. Jon vowed to be loyal to the Night's Watch -- the ragtag group who stand guard at the icy North wall on high alert for the fantastical (the zombie-like White Walkers) and the free (wildlings) -- and he's held true to that promise even after a detour in the arms of wildling Ygritte. Sadly, by the end of season four, that romance is dead.

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Who's who in Westeros – Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage): With his sharp wit and swift thinking, Peter Dinklage's Tyrion Lannister has managed to stay alive through all three seasons of "Game of Thrones," although the fourth season has been even dicier. A Lannister and therefore the son of the wealthiest guy around, Tyrion is nonetheless despised by his family because of his size and their belief that he "killed" their mother during childbirth.

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Who's who in Westeros – Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke): As one of the few surviving descendants of the Targaryen family, Daenerys has a lot of expectations riding on her platinum-haired head. But, much to our enjoyment, she has risen to and surpassed all of them. Once nothing more than an offering for a king, Daenerys -- called Khaleesi, or queen, by the Dothraki people she once helped rule -- has morphed into a Mother of Dragons who insists on justice and is a formidable foe in the "Game of Thrones."

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Who's who in Westeros – Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson): In the pantheon of most-hated TV characters, "Game of Thrones'" boy king Joffrey has to be one of the top choices. He's petulant, cruel and too immature to rule, but don't tell him that or he'll have your tongue. The most delicious part for the viewers at home is that he's not the rightful heir to the Iron Throne that he thinks he is, although that didn't stop his reign of terror. In our personal opinions, we'd say the Purple Wedding was one of Joff's best scenes.

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Who's who in Westeros – Arya Stark (Maisie Williams): Much of Arya's family has been sent to their graves by one wicked person or another, but the young swordswoman is still kicking. With Sandor "The Hound" Clegane at her side imparting lessons in mercilessness and self-preservation, the orphaned Arya is surviving.

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Who's who in Westeros – Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey): Cersei has become more or less your stereotypical evil queen, albeit one who has zero issues with incest. After helping her son Joffrey take the throne, Cersei tried to rule alongside her son only to have him overtake her will. During season four, when not being as cruel as ever, she's been a central character in a rich debate on the show's treatment of sexual violence.

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Who's who in Westeros – Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau): Jaime Lannister began the "Game of Thrones" as a pretty despicable character, one who had no compunction about throwing a 10-year-old from a window. But over the course of season three this lovesick nobleman was put through his paces, losing the very limb that helped him become so powerful.

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Who's who in Westeros – Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen): If you find yourself confused as to who exactly Theon Greyjoy is, don't feel bad: he is, too. Once the ward of the House of Stark, Theon betrayed those who were like family to him to claim a noble title that lasted for essentially a nanosecond. That led to Theon suffering as a prisoner and punching bag for Bastard of Bolton Ramsay Snow, who has the guy thinking his name is "Reek."

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Who's who in Westeros – Sandor "The Hound" Clegane (Rory McCann): A killer to the bone but not without a heart, Sandor, or "The Hound" as he's known, was once a bodyguard for King Joffrey but deserted his post. He then tried to take Arya Stark hostage in hopes he could exchange her for ransom, but that plan -- much to Arya's amusement -- didn't work out so well.

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Who's who in Westeros – Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright): Bran Stark, the middle son of the House of Stark, was left crippled from the very first episode of "Game of Thrones" but has gained a gift for visions. With his faithful Hodor (Kristian Nairn) by his side for mobility, the now orphaned Bran has gone beyond the Wall in search of the three-eyed Raven he frequently sees in visions.

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Who's who in Westeros – Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner): Sansa Stark/Sansa Lannister is a character many love to hate, because she started out as pretty insufferable. But after being ridiculed and tortured by Joffrey Lannister, her former fiance, and held captive by him and his family, we've come around. Not unlike her younger sister Arya, Sansa has started to learn the rules of the "Game," and by the end of season four begins to deftly play by them.

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Who's who in Westeros – Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance): No matter who's worn the crown on "Game of Thrones," Tywin Lannister was always somewhere scheming to keep the Lannister family's legacy rich in money and power. He's alsoe the evil mastermind behind the hideous Red Wedding in the third season.

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Who's who in Westeros – Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal): Arriving at King's Landing for the first time in season four, Martell is from Dorne, in the southern reaches of the Seven Kingdoms, where passions run hot and slights are not forgotten. Weigh that against the fact that his sister was killed by Lannister soldiers and you have a recipe for trouble.

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Who's who in Westeros – Ygritte (Rose Leslie): Ygritte, one of the Free Folk who live beyond the Wall and are known derogatorily as wildlings by those in the Seven Kingdoms, is proud of her people and deadly with a bow and arrow. Her skill couldn't protect her from an orphan's revenge, however.

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Who's who in Westeros – Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane): As a brother to the late King Robert Baratheon -- who held the throne before his son-in-name-only Joffrey took over -- Stannis Baratheon knows he has a rightful claim to the crown. He's gone into battle trying to seal his position, and regularly turns to the magic of creepy "Red Priestess" Melisandre (Carice van Houten) for help.

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Who's who in Westeros – Melisandre (Carice van Houten): Known as the Red Priestess, Melisandre's magic is lethal, but Stannis Baratheon doesn't seem to mind when her power helps him move closer to the Iron Throne.

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Story highlights

"Game of Thrones" began its fourth season on Sunday

Critics say it upheld the show's reputation as one of the best programs on TV

While it wasn't as action-packed, it did explore character development

The subsequent two episodes are expected to be just as good

HBO's deadly "Game of Thrones" returned Sunday night with one ominous rallying cry -- "All men must die" -- and few disappointments.

Now that it's in its fourth season, the fantasy series could be excused if it started to show wear and tear. After all, we've seen programs with simpler plots and fewer cast members lose their edge in less time.

But Sunday's premiere, "Two Swords," proved that creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are just getting started.

(In fact, the only real letdown for fans didn't have anything to do with "GoT" at all, but HBO's mobile platform HBO Go, which crashed due to an overwhelming demand for Sunday's premiere.)

Adapted from George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" book series, "Game of Thrones" is at its heart a bloody race for power between competitive houses in Westeros. After the third season left avid watchers in a state of shock thanks to a gruesome wedding ceremony, they returned on Sunday to find the "Game's" major players repositioning themselves on the board.

With the famous Stark Valyrian steel sword split in two by Hand of the King Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance), viewers were made keenly aware of the fissures that abound throughout the Seven Kingdoms.

Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) is building an army while trying to keep a handle on her still-growing dragons, and Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) has begun to cross out names on her list of vengeance.

In the North, the Free Folk -- or the Wildlings as they're called -- have their eyes trained on breaching the Wall where the men of the Night's Watch, including a Jon Snow (Kit Harington) ready to pay for his broken vows, stand guard.

And in King's Landing, where the precious Iron Throne sits, the ruthless and rich Lannisters are not as secure as they'd like to believe. With a grand wedding approaching for the young King Joffrey, there are visitors from Dorne afoot -- and they, too, like to pay their debts.

"Right off the bat, season four sends the viewer a signal: Forget the Westeros you knew," warns the A.V. Club's Erik Adams, who gave the episode a B+ grade. "Forget where on the board you've mentally placed any of 'Game Of Thrones'' chess pieces. It's not a reboot, but 'Two Swords' is a starting place that feels distinct." While "fortunes have risen and fallen while we were away, and the awful power of King Joffrey seeps deeply into the Seven Kingdoms," the episode "stealthily belongs to the Starks -- who are down, but not out. That's an enticingly rich way to begin a season."

Time magazine's Eric Dodds agrees that while "the Lannisters appear strong and unchallenged with the Starks out of the picture and Jaime returned home only slightly worse for wear, the cracks are readily apparent. ... By all accounts, the season-opener was setting the table for what promises to be a season filled with violence and intrigue. For now, the fear is only creeping in along the edges. Once it arrives in full, that's when the real fun is likely to begin."

It's true that not much happened in the way of action -- by "GoT" standards, anyway -- but it was rich in character development, says The Daily Beast's Andrew Romano.

"(A)nd character, ultimately, is what 'Game of Thrones' does best," he observes. "Some viewers might even complain that there wasn't enough sex or swashbuckling in 'Two Swords' -- that the episode was 'slow.' But it is in these slow moments -- the moments between each big plot twist, when showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff decelerate the narrative to linger over the nuances of character -- that 'Game of Thrones' truly distinguishes itself from other epic television series."

"The consistent excellence in 'Game of Thrones' is truly something to behold," Goodman says in a review. "Even in three episodes, viewers will sense things tightening up -- that winter and war are coming and they are coming on full-stop. If there's anything to complain about with 'Game of Thrones' it's the 10-episode seasons, which cry out for 13 episodes given the immense world that 'Thrones' inhabits."